1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust tube shroud for a motorcycle exhaust system of a V-shaped combustion engine mounted on a motorcycle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a motorcycle having mounted thereon a so-called V-twin combustion engine of a type, in which two cylinder units are arranged one behind the other in a direction longitudinally of the motorcycle body structure, a radiator is generally provided forwardly of the combustion engine with respect to the direction of forward travel of the motorcycle and a radiator fan is positioned rearwardly of the radiator. Engine cylinder units of the V-twin combustion engine are offset relative to each other in a direction widthwise of the motorcycle body structure, and exhaust tubes are drawn from those engine cylinder units, respectively, in a direction rearwardly of the motorcycle body structure. In order to protect motorcycle rider's feet from high temperature heat emanating from the exhaust tubes, and also, to enhance the appealing feature to the motorcycle appearance, each of those exhaust tubes is provided with a protective covering such as disclosed in, for example, the JP Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-90237, published Apr. 7, 2005.
It has, however, been found that where in the motorcycle of such a type as referred to above, the front cylinder unit is offset laterally on one side, for example, leftwards with respect to the direction of forward travel of the motorcycle and the exhaust tube from such cylinder unit is drawn on one side opposite to the direction of offset, that is, rightwards, a hot air stream flowing across the radiator, drawn particularly by the radiator fan, tends to flow through a space delimited between the front cylinder unit, which has been offset, and the exhaust tube drawn from the front cylinder unit and is eventually blown off towards the rider's right leg and, therefore, particularly during the summer season, the rider will feel discomfort driving the motorcycle.